MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND DEPARTMENT FOR THE AGING LAUNCH NEW WEBSITE FOR CAREGIVERS

New Site Connects City’s Two Million Caregivers to Vital Information, Respite Care and Support Services

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the Department for the Aging today announced the launch of a new content-rich website to provide easy, online access to information about local resources including respite care, support groups, in-home support services, and financial and legal assistance. The website, www.nyccaregiver.org, can be access through the City’s website www.nyc.gov. The NYC’s Caregiver Initiative was launched as part of a recent grant through the National Family Caregiver Support Program, an amendment to the Older Americans Act. This nationwide initiative recognizes and supports the growing number of informal caregivers assisting family and friends who are aging, sick, and disabled. Aging Commissioner Edwin Méndez-Santiago joined the Mayor for the announcement during a visit to the Aging in America Senior Center in the Bronx.

“Nearly two million New Yorkers provide some form of care for friends and family members who are elderly or suffering from illness” said Mayor Bloomberg. “This new website will provide resources and support for caregivers in need of information that is easily accessible from home. With content in four languages and sections devoted to the special needs of targeted populations, this site will help people care for those they love.”

“To date, more than 6,000 caregivers who speak 13 languages have been served through the NYC Caregiver Program, receiving information, training, and over 45,000 hours of respite care,” said Aging Commissioner Edwin Méndez-Santiago. “We created the website to reach even more of the two million New York City caregivers, who do whatever is needed to meet the needs of their loved ones and care for them at home.”

Caregiving encompasses a spectrum of activities from helping with tasks such as buying groceries and paying bills, to taking on the full-time care of parents who can no longer care for themselves. The website will help caregivers identify themselves as such because, too frequently, those who are helping do not realize that they have taken on the role of a caregiver and do not ask for help until they become overwhelmed. Recognizing that caregiving issues affect every community, the website offers information in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian, with fully translated versions of the website planned for the future. The website also provides sections that target the needs of people such as grandparents raising grandchildren and those in the Asian, immigrant, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.

As the second phase of the Department’s promotional campaign for NYC Caregiver, the website launch follows the deployment of a series of subway and bus posters that ran last month. The posters appeared throughout the City in four languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian. Caregiver Resource Centers were established in every borough to provide New York City’s caregivers with a complete resource for information and support services.